I was standing down at the car park and watching with interest a new born squirrel learning to climb. It was climbing on a piece of cable wire going two storey's top. It almost reached near the end of the wire and it finds itself in a catch 22 situation. It was not able to climb over the final distance and cross to the other side nor was it able to climb down, should have been pretty scared. I waited for a long time to see what it does next, but it just stood there hanging in the air unsure what to do next. The crows and eagles hovering above were also watching the entire drama with interest.
In the meantime a cat came running and jumped on to the motor room nearby and came out holding a little squirrel and ran away. I assume it should be part of the family of the little one hanging up there. I came back after 30 mts to see the same situation. Now the mother squirrel came running to teach it to climb up but the little one was not able to go the distance. It just got stuck there. After sometime its mother also went away. By now the cat came again for its second round of prey only to be shooed away, may be there were few more in the motor room.
By now couple of my friends joined me and I explained to them the situation. We planned to bring the little one down. The plan was to shake the wire and once it falls down catch hold of it in a bed spread. My friends held the bedspread below and I shook the wire, the little one fell off but sadly inches away from the bedspread and crashed on to the ground. Thankfully it did not seem hurt much but was visibly shaken and was recovering itself and crawling. All of a sudden from nowhere the cat came down pouncing on it and sprinted away holding it by the neck. It just happened in the blink of an eyelid.
One of my friend tried to chase the cat but to no avail. The cat had found its prey. Maybe the mother squirrel was lifting the little one up towards a shelter to safeguard from the cat and I pushed it down back to its predator. Shame on me. I just cant help feeling guilty for whatever i did. Life is strange... Sometime despite the best of your intentions, it just throws shit at you...
There seems to be few lessons from this incident and I am just trying to figure them out.
1) When you take a looong journey into the unknown make sure you are adequately backed up because once you near the top the heights will scare the shit out of you.
2) Once you reach the end of your journey, a sense of fear arises as to what is there at the end and if this is the right path, but don't be stuck there for too looong. Just keep traveling as the risks are far lesser than indecisiveness.
3) When someone is hanging at midpoint in a indecisive manner, they are just trying to get a grip of things before taking the final leap, better give them the space and time.
4) It is good to have a reliable partner who has traveled the distance and when you get one, better rely on them.
5) If you are taking some one to the top make sure you are there around till the end because it is when you are not around someone pushes them to the cat.
6) If you really want to help someone make sure to hold the bedspread pretty tight and be double sure to catch hold of the falling ones safely.
7) Have a plan to get the squirrel back to the top, because that is where they are safe from the cats.
8) Watch out for the cats when the fall happens, because the fall might only leave bruises but it is the cats waiting to prey that go for the kill and more often you will not even notice them coming.
9) There are things you can change and things you cant, so don't fret over it. Just do what you feel is right and leave it to that.
